Legal Health Check

A4ID’s legal health check gives NGOs a full understanding of their legal needs. It is free and is conducted by a team of pro bono lawyers from one of our legal partners.

‘Health Checks’ exist in many contexts, providing a snapshot of the condition of an individual or organisation. A Legal Health Check usually refers to a process by which lawyers undertake an assessment of a client’s potential legal needs.

A4ID staff lawyers work with all its development partners to examine and scope their legal needs.

The A4ID Legal Health Check is an extension of this process, offering a more in-depth assessment to those organisations willing and able to participate. A team of lawyers from A4ID legal partners undertakes the Legal Health Check on a pro bono basis. The lawyers use a questionnaire developed by A4ID to understand the condition of the organisation. Through analysing the information received in response, and through discussions with the organisation, the lawyers identify which legal issues the organisation needs to address. Their assessment is captured in a written report for the organisation, which the development organisation can then work through over time.

The Legal Health Check is free for A4ID development partners. However, it does require a significant investment of time to properly engage with the lawyers and respond to their questions. Yet, the organisation’s input should ultimately pay dividends by preventing issues manifesting into costly and time-intensive problems. Further, it will result in a structured document setting out the ongoing legal needs of the organisation which can be used as a benchmark for the future. In short, getting things right at the outset will help to ensure the organisation is sustainable both in the immediate and longer term.

‘It’s exciting to have a pro bono matter that can potentially involve all of our practice areas, which can be done in any of our offices, and which goes to the core of a charity’s legal needs and helps them to proactively address their most important legal issues.’